Folding indoor clothes dryer



April 8, 1969 I. RUINA 3,

FOLDING INDOOR CLOTHES DRYER Filed Feb. 20, 1967 Sheet of s Vim .. II'IIIIIIIIIIII'I'I'IIII'll INVENTOR find/7g Raina April 8, 1969 1. RUINA FOLDING INDOOR CLOTHES DRYER Sheet Z of 5 Filed Feb. 20, 1967 April 8, 1969 l. RUINA 3,437,213

' flying Raj/7a BY I I l. RUINA FOLDING INDOOR CLOTHES DRYER April 8, 1969 Sheet Filed Feb. 2 0, 1967 ILIIIII 1 01 079 L'na rn a, 1969 Rum 3,431,2 3

FOLDING INDOOR CLOTHES DRYER Filed Fb. 20, 1957 United States Patent 3,437,213 FOLDING INDOOR CLOTHES DRYER Irving Ruina, Miami Beach, Fla. (1660 NE. 131st St., North Miami Beach, Fla. 33162) Filed Feb. 20, 1967, Ser. No. 617,391 Int. Cl. A47b 43/00; A47f /08 US. Cl. 211--1.3 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Brief summary of invention A folding indoor clothes dryer composed of channel shaped frame members, swingable into extended and nested relationship, one member adapted to be fixed to a support wall and enclosing a roller actuating device, other opposed members having trackways. A series of spaced wet clothes supporting metal, plastic, wooden or other rods are provided normally extending across the frame to the other frame members, and movable by said roller actuating device to collapsed condition in said one frame member, the ends of the rods rolling along the opposed trackways. Means is also provided for holding the clothes supporting rods in clothes supporting extended position.

Brief description of views of drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a folding indoor clothes dryer embodying the invention shown mounted on the wall of a bathroom over the bathtub, in collapsed condition.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view taken on the plane of the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the plane of the line 3-3 of FIG. 2, on a larger scale.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the folding indoor clothes dryer shown in FIG. 1 with parts shown in operative extended position, the arrows showing the direction of movements of the frame members, a finger of the operator being shown in position for moving one of the frame members.

FIG. 5 is a spread perspective view of one end of the frame members, on an enlarged scale.

FIG. 6 is a spread perspective view of the other end of the frame members shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale showing the folding indoor clothes dryer in operative extended position, supporting articles of clothing.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the plane of the line 8-8 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the plane of the line 99 of FIG. 8.

FIG..10 is a perspective view of one end of the roller means showing the manner of attaching the clothes hanging rods thereto.

FIG. 11 is a top perspective view of one end of the side frames showing the means for releasably holding the rods in clothes supporting position.

FIG. 12 is a top spread perspective view of a folding indoor clothes hanger embodying a modified form of the invention, an article of clothing being shown preparatory to being supported on the dryer, parts being shown broken away.

FIG. 13 is a front perspective view of the folding indoor clothes dryer of FIG. 12, in collapsed condition.

FIG. 14 is a part elevational and part sectional view of a folding indoor clothes dryer embodying still another modified form of the invention, an article of clothing being shown discharged therefrom.

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a folding indoor clothes dryer embodying yet another modified form of the invention, the frame members being shown in partly collapsed condition in dash lines.

Detailed description of drawings Referring now in detail to the various views of the drawings, in FIG. 1, a folding indoor clothes dryer is shown designated generally at 10. As best seen in FIG. 7, the dryer 10 includes a U-shaped metal frame composed of channel-shaped side frame members 12 and 14 and similarly shaped cross frame member 16 closed at one end thereof and open at the other end.

With particular reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the channelshaped frame member 16 constitutes a base or crosspiece of the frame and is adapted to be fixed to a vertical wall, such as the wall 18 of a bathroom 20 preferably over one end of a bathtub 22, by fastening elements 24 extending through holes 26 in the bight portion 28 of said frame member 16.

The channel-shaped frame member 12 is shallower in depth than the frame member 16 and is pivotally con nected at one end to one end of the frame member 16 by a double headed pivot pin 30, the pivoted end of the frame member 12 being positioned slightly inwardly of said one end of frame member 16 to permit said pivoted end to swing inwardly and clear the bight portion 28 of said frame member 16. Frame member 12 is provided with a finger hole protected by a plastic eyelet 32 for manipulating the frame member 12.

Channel-shaped frame member 14 is deeper than both frame members 12 and 16 so as to swing over both said frame members 12 and 16 in overlapping relation when nested as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. An elongated flange 34 extends along the bight portion 36 of frame member 14 midway the top and bottom flanges 38 and 40, respectively, thereof for its entire length.

A spherical detent member 42 is adapted on the top flange -43 of frame member 12 to seat in an outstruck projection 44 on the top flange 38 of frame member 14 for releasably holding the frame members 12 and 14 in nested relation, with frame member 16.

In accordance with the invention, a plurality of elongated round rods 46 of any suitable material such as metal, plastic, wood, and the like are carried at their ends in spaced relationship by tapes 48, 48 of fabric, plastic or other suitable material, the tapes extending through slots 50 cut in the end edges of the rods as best seen in FIG. 2. Metal hooks 52 or hooks of other suitable mate rial are fixedly attached to the ends of the tapes forming extensions thereof as shown in FIG. 7. The other ends of the tapes 48, 48 are fixed to the outer peripheral surface of an elongated cylindrical roller device indicated generally at 54, by nails 56 driven into the body 58 of the roller device as best seen in FIG. 10.

The flange 34 of frame member 14 serves as a trackway for one end of the rods 46, when moving away from or toward the frame member 16. The other end of the rods 46 move along the bottom flange 59 of frame member 12, said bottom flange serving as a trackway, for the rolling rods. The bottom flange 59 of frame member 12 is on the same level as the flange 34 of frame member 14.

The roller device 54 is somewhat similar to a window shade roller type device, with a round pin 60 projecting from one end forming an extension thereof for journalling in an L-shaped bearing bracket 62 welded to the bight portion of the frame member 16. The other end of the roller device 54 is formed with an axial recess 64 intersecting the end edge thereof and housing an elongated compression spring 66. One end, the inner end of the spring is anchored to the body of the roller device 54, the other end being fixed to a round block 68 mounting a lug 70 angular in cross section, adapted to removably seat in an elongated radial notch 72 formed in the edge of a bracket fixed adjacent the closed end of the bight portion of the frame member 16. The lug 70 keeps the body of the roller device 54 from turning accidentally.

A short length of pull tape 76 is fastened at one end to the endmost outer rod 46 so that the tape may be grasped at the other end by the operator in order to pull the clothes supporting rods 46 outwardly of the frame member 16 in order to catch the hooks 52 on the ends of the tapes 48 over the ends of the flanges or trackways 59 and 34 in the frame members 12 and 14, respectively, as shown in FIG. 11.

The invention c-omprehends a towel rack 80 on the outer surface of the frame 14, preferably in the form of a flat bar 82 with offset ends 84 welded to the outer surface of frame member 14, positioning the bar 82 away from the frame member whereby the bar is adapted to receive and support towels 88- and the like.

When in use, and when the dryer is collapsed, the tapes 48 and rods 46 are wound around the body of the roller device 54, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. When in this collapsed condition, the towel rack 80 may be used for supporting towels 88 as seen in FIG. 1.

The dryer may be extended to the position of FIG. 7 by manually pulling the outermost frame member 14 on its pivot outwardly in the direction of the arrow 90 shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. 4. The frame member 12 is next pulled outwardly to open position by inserting the finger through the eyelet 32 and pulling it outwardly in the direction of the arrow 92 shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. 7. The pull tape 76 is then grasped by the fingers as shown in FIG. 11 and pulled outwardly thereby pulling the tapes 48 and supported rods 46 outwardly, the tapes and ends of the rods rolling over and along the trackways 34 and 59 against the action of spring 66 in the roller device 54. The hooks 52 are slipped over the ends of the trackways whereby the rods are held in spaced extended position as shown in FIG. 7 for supporting articles of clothing such as the jacket 94 and socks 96 shown in FIG. 7.

In order to collapse the folding indoor clothes dryer, it is merely necessary to pull on the pull tape 76 outwardly so as to carry the hooks 52 beyond the ends of the track ways and then release the pulling pressure whereby the tapes 48 and rods 46 will be retracted automatically by the spring 66.

In FIGS. 12 and 13, a folding indoor clothes dryer 10' embodying a modified form of the invention is illustrated. It differs from the dryer 10 of FIG. 1 in that a framework of wire or plastic mesh indicated generally at 100 is placed over the clothes supporting rods 46 and releasably connected thereto. The framework 100 comprises a substantially rectangular frame 102 of wire stock supporting elongated criss-crossed metal or plastic wires 10 4 stretched across the space between the ends and sides of the frame. A pair of hooks 106 is loosedly attached to bearing straps 108 welded to the end wires 110, 110 of the framework. The books 106- are adapted to be hooked over the endmost rods 46 for holding the framework in operative position on the frame 10'.

In use, the framework 100 is adapted to support an article of clothing in flatwise condition, as in use, such as the sweater 112 shown in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 illustrates another modified form of folding indoor clothes dryer 111 which includes all of the features of the dryer 10 of FIG. 10 and in addition is provided with a drying compartment 112 under the base frame member 1 6 and formed integrally therewith for drying a wraparound article of clothing as indicated at 114. The compartment is provided with a hinged door 116 having a latch 118 on the bottom edge thereof adapted to coact with a protuberance 120 on the bottom flange 122 of the compartment for releasably holding the door closed.

In FIG. 15, a folding indoor clothes dryer 10a with a modified form of frame member 12a is shown. In this form, the frame member 12a is formed with a reduced free end portion as indicated at 124 so as to facilitate folding and unfolding. The reduced free end carries a pin 126.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise construction herein disclosed and that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A folding indoor clothes dryer, comprising a U-shaped frame, said frame including side channel-shaped members, and a cross channel-shaped member joining one end of said side frame members, the end of the wide frame members and the ends of the cross channel-shaped member being pivotally connected, the cross channelshaped member being wider than one of the side frame members, the other side frame member being wider than both said one side frame member and said cross frame member whereby the cross frame member and said one side frame member are adapted to nest inside the other side frame member, spaced rods slidably supported on the side frame members for supporting wet articles of clothing, and means for sliding said rods, a trackway formed in the wider side frame members, the bottom flange of the other side frame member being disposed on the same horizontal plane as the plane of said trackway, and serving as a trackway whereby the ends of the rods are adapted to be rolled along the trackways.

2. A folding indoor clothes dryer as defined in claim 1, the slidable support for the rods including a pair of fabric tapes connecting the ends of the rods, said tapes and rods adapted to be slid over the trackways to extended or collapsed condition.

3. A folding indoor clothes dryer as defined in claim 2 wherein the means for sliding the rods, includes a spring pressed roller device operatively connected to one end of the tapes whereby the tapes and rods are adapted to be wound therearound and pull tape on the outermost rod whereby the tapes and rods are adapted to be pulled to extended position.

4. A folding indoor clothes dryer as defined in claim 3 and hooks on the ends of the tapes adapted to hook over the ends of the trackways for releasably holding the tapes and rods in extended position.

5. A folding indoor clothes dryer as defined in claim 3,

5 6 wherein the operative connection between the roller device 2,5 88,706 3/1952 Davis 10845 and the tapes includes nails extending through the ends of 2,642,193 6/1953 sfiYe m 211-104 XR the tapes partly encircling the roller device, and into said 3,119,590 1/1964 EIIkSSOII 248-2403 r011 device- 5 FOREIGN PATENTS References Cited 569,794 11/ 1957 Italy. UNITED STATES PATENTS CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner. 1,493,264 '5/1924 Hennessy 211104 1,572,332 2/1926 Ayres et a1 211-1 62 XR SEITTER Examme" 1,941,126 12/1933 Blackman 312-329 2,489,774 11/1949 Harp 211-94 XR 211 104; 24 24 3 

